What Easy Street Cafe Lacks in Finesse, It Makes Up for in Puns

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Easy Street Records in West Seattle isn't just one of Rolling Stone Magazine's top 25 record stores in the country, it's one of the most popular brunch spots in town. It's not uncommon to wait 45 minutes for a cramped table on weekends. With a list of hard-core diner items that span a three-page menu, you're absolutely going to find something you like, whether it be the Dolly Parton Big Stack of pancakes, eggs and bacon or the Beck Omelet filled with faux bacon and veggies. Yeah, just about everything has a musical slant to it. But which plates hit the right note? We pit their best selling brunch plates against each other to find out.

Calories don't count on Sundays. God said so.

The Rivals: Rock v. New Wave

Don't be fooled by the cutesy name. Suzy Q will cut you with a sharp spike of cholesterol. This popular breakfast item ($6.25) comes with three eggs any style, toast, hashbrowns and four strips of some of the best bacon you'll ever eat. We suggest opting for either the Texas toast or English muffin, as you'll need something to soak up all the bacon grease. We really don't have much to say about this dish. It's pretty much your standard hangover breakfast. The hashbrowns are cooked nicely - crisp on the outside, tender on the inside. Our over-easy eggs were also cooked perfectly - solid whites, runny yolks. As busy as this kitchen was, we were quite surprised that nothing on our plate was burnt or undercooked. Our only complaint was that our pat of wrapped butter was set atop our hot toast which created a melty mess before we even opened it.

When I was your age, New Wave didn't come with salsa.

New Wave O's Rancheros ($6.95) gets the award for name stretching, if nothing else. It really is a plate of traditional huevos rancheros with two eggs, corn tortillas, refried beans, cheese and all the trimmings. The refried beans are made from scratch every morning before the cafe opens at 7 a.m. That means there is a dude in the kitchen taking dried beans and making them into something super tasty for your breakfast later. The amount of cheese underscores the fresh taste of the beans, but they still deserve a nod for effort. The side of plain old iceberg lettuce, which we assumed was total garnish, was crisp and fresh; the salsa, also homemade, is spiked with a good amount of jalapenos (or something equally spicy) to add some zip. We also went for over-easy eggs instead of the more traditional scrambled; having yolks ooze out from the pile of beans and cheese was not only visually appealing, it gave the tortillas something to absorb. Speaking of tortillas, they really flavored this dish, which lacked a bit of seasoning. The sweetness of the corn, along with the heat from the salsa, really won us over.

The Champ: This was a split decision. While the Suzy Q is good, it's definitely not something most sober peeps would order. Four strips of bacon, three eggs and toast? Which just happens to pair perfectly with a couple of cold PBRs? Only if you have a bucket of booze swirling around in your stomach. It's the breakfast of champions our editor prefers (no judgement). But we're going to give the winning vote to the New Wave O's Rancheros for two reasons: 1) it's good and 2) a lot of TLC went into making it. We suggest asking for an additional side of salsa and paying the extra $2 for some chorizo to really solidify this dish.